


Divine Intervention

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Fantasy AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-19
Updated: 2013-01-19
Packaged: 2017-11-26 00:54:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/644757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hearts are like locks without master keys, only admitting entry to one - and sometimes all it takes is a word, or a passing glance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Divine Intervention

**Author's Note:**

> This was a secret santa present for tumblr user accio-mystar. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as she did.

Once upon a time, a kingdom ran rampant with people, scattered by the wind in every direction. To rule these people lived a king, his queen, and their beautiful prince. The boy was, well, average. Spiky black hair, interested blue eyes, and an affinity for getting into trouble led the king and queen to many a fond sigh, one of those sighs that parents often give each other with their minds connected by railway, sharing thoughts and raised eyebrows.

Across a narrow river lived another kingdom, equally large, equally important, equally similar in matters of nobility - a mother, father, and son. To be perfectly honest, this family was more quirky any of the other eight neighboring kingdoms, often to the point of exasperating the other members of the noble court and commoners. The young prince often kept to himself, only leaving the castle on odd occasions. When asked, he would just mumble, eyes shielded by a maroon hood, and breath leaving his mouth in an intricate cadence.

Both princes had crossed the river a grand total of once in their lifetimes. Both times, they caught the gaze of another soul, a fleeting glance that did as much good to the heart as an electric shock – a quick stop, and a restart, running more smoothly than before. Both times, they fell in love.

Of course, this had only happened twice, and eventually the princes reached an age where the king and queen arranged marriages. Both had their familial lines to be intertwined with those of beautiful young maidens, and while their beauty was indisputable, both princes felt like their hearts just really weren’t in it. Unbeknownst to them, the other boy was still the object of their true affection. Princely hearts were like locks without master keys, only admitting entry to one; theirs happened to be one exchanged in a passing glance.

Looming above the atmosphere of the Kingdoms of Breath and Time dwelled a small society. Not everyone believed in them, of course, with few interactions ever recorded. They were the perpetrators of creating meaningful relationships, fortune, and the balance of the natural world. Generally, things went along smoothly- although they detested arranged marriage, the Royal Families seemed to go along and work efficiently with them, and why fix something that wasn’t broken?

This arranged marriage set in particular released several red flags and alarms- five, to be exact. As usual, it was called to immediate attention of the higher-ups, creating a buzz of slight, well-deserved panic. His Royal Sicknasty, Sir Strider, announced what exactly was occuring, validating the panic.

 “King and Queen Egbert, as well as my own bretheren King and Queen Strider, have chosen wives for their sons.” A murmur ran through the audience, and he adjusted his triangular glasses. Orange wings twitched behind him in a nervous, uncharacteristic fashion. “As you may all know, the two boys have already found true love, whether they know it or not, in each other. This is not a drill, ladies and gents, this is the real deal.” The anxious mood bubbled over the top, surging around the hall in a crackle of electricity.

His Royal Sicknasty Sir Strider, known affectionately to his friends as Dirk, gulped. The orange clouds behind him may as well have been a mood ring tattooed to his forehead. They certainly weren’t helpful in this situation, when all they needed was a calming presence that no one was giving them, even if they were handy for things like flying. “People, please,” he rolled his eyes- not like anyone could see it, but it was the thought that counts, right- “calm down. These two boys will, assumably, be fine. They just need a little...divine intervention, and that’s what we’re here for. Anyway, they shouldn’t need more than two helpers – one for each of their sorry little asses – to set things straight. He turned, facing the impatiently waiting council members behind him. “Who has been chosen?”

An older woman stood up, her long black dress slinking behind her waterfall curves. “Miss Rose Lalonde, of the Section of Light, has henceforth been assigned to Sir David Strider. Miss Kanaya Maryam, of the Section of Space, has also henceforth been assigned to Sir Jonathan Egbert. Their task, to be completed as soon as reasonably possible, is to ensure the joining of the two loves, to bring good fortune to their lives and ensure the natural state of affairs are normalized. Miss Lalonde, Miss Maryam, you are expected to make your introductions within 24 hours to ensure efficiency.” She slunk back to her seat, smiling through heavy makeup and several piercings.

The focus shifted uncomfortably within the room. Where there had previously been an imaginary string, pulled tight, that string had snapped, leaving two weak ends. Jealousy leeched at everyone’s hearts, the giant green elephant in the room practically tangible. At the eye of the storm sat two confused, fear-tangled, and quiet students, barely out of prep school. Blushing faces and thumping hearts aside, they hurried away.

\---

To say that Rose Lalonde had never been more ready for anything in her life would be a phrase undoubtedly incorrect. It was missing a word – “less”, perhaps, rather than “more”. _She_ was chosen, a young psychology student who hadn’t even done a phenomenal job in her Human Sciences course, and it was startling, and led to an unsettling feeling that vaugely reminded her of snails moseying about in the pit of her stomach.

Nevertheless, she wasn’t one to argue with the council over something like this. Other things, without a doubt, but this was supposed to be an honor; she would go about her ways with a forced smile and a static wave. She changed out of her loungewear into “something better suited”, and stared wistfully at her already cooling tea and open book before setting off on her way.

“I would assume you are Miss Lalonde?” came a voice from behind her, eloquent and overly-punctuated, as she worked her way down the hallway.

“Well, yes, I would believe that assumption to be correct. You are?” Rose asked, turning to see a girl speed-walking to get closer. She seemed awfully familiar, but where from had been lost from her memory banks.

“I am Kanaya Maryam.” She offered out a polished, practically glowing hand. Rose shook it, feeling oddly inadequate. “I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Likewise.”

They made their way down the hallway, and after several seconds of listening to just the clicking of heels, Kanaya began to talk again. “I just figured that, perhaps it would make progress easier if we knew each other first. After all, we are working jointly on this very important mission and-“ oh god, she was a nervous rambler.

Rose cut her off with a hand to the shoulder and a sympathetic smile. “You’ll do just fine, I’d imagine.”

Kanaya stiffened slightly under her touch. “It was never mentioned that I did not believe that,” she said, cool tone gaining a metallic edge.

“I wasn’t trying to imply anything, either,” Rose responded. All doors in her brain that could have possibly held friendship behind them snapped shut. Good going, Rose. Not like it even technically mattered, but it could potentially have made things easier. Or screwed them up. Whatever.

The two veered off in seperate directions, down two different hallways. Rose pulled her Invisibility Cloak over her head, unfurling her purple tentacle-like wings. A hatch was opened down below, and she jumped.

The Kingdom of Time was bigger than Rose had imagined it to be, and also a lot more...frightening. It was, to be honest, a bit too industrial-wasteland looking for her taste. The Castle sat in the middle of a large , blazing retinas of everyone everywhere. It held a metallic frame, woven together with pillars of fire, and a moat that held...was that lava?

Rose huffed softly to herself. If that was how they kept out unwanted visitors, she didn’t even want to know what they would to to an intruder. Specifically, a blonde, freckled, horrorterror-eqsue winged one. It wasn’t as if she planned on harming anything, but just the prospect of being fed to the lava was bone-chilling.

She wandered her way down the corridors, eventually finding herself at a lit, wooden door. A soft push proved that it wasn’t locked, and she sidestepped through the door. She took a deep breath and looked around – no one inside. She slid off her cloak, draped it over one of his stuffed dolls (wasn’t he too old for them? Or was it a neglectful mother that led him to cling to childish possessions? She would have to look into that), lay down on her side, and waited.

It took seventeen minutes before Rose could hear footsteps coming down the hallway. In that time, she counted bricks on the walls (568 and 492, depending on which side of the rectangle you were looking at), ran through her Psychological Use of Terror homework, and had to let her sneaky, excited smile fall into a bitter, sardonic one. She’d heard nasty rumors about Prince Strider, and for the sake of her job and his soul vessel, she prayed they weren’t true.

“Yo, Lil Cal,” Prince Strider announced. His presence went unnoticed by the surprisingly terrifying doll. Not turning toward the bed where Rose sat, he walked over to his bureau. “Been thinking about colorign my hair pink. Not like hot, woah man watch out don’t move too fast you’ve got a flamingo on your head, or even like is that a continuation of his face or more hair or some kind of tumor we shouldn’t mention, but...light pink. Congrats, it’s a baby, now have some balloons and cheering doctors and a screechy kid who never sleeps, kind of color. What do you-“ he turned from the bureau and froze. “Wait shit you’re not Cal, who the hell are you?”

Rose couldn’t help but try to (and fail to) hold back a smirk. “No, I most certainly am not. My name is Rose Lalonde, and I am your fairy godmother.”

\--

“Wait, what the hell?”

Kanaya paused, putting her drink down. “Vriska, calm down, please, it is not that big of a deal,” she sighed.

“It is too a big deal! That...punk had the nerve to shut you down like that? ‘Weh you’re not a fairy you’re just some bitch in a dress’ my ass!” Vriska exclaimed. The glasses on the counter shook as she slammed her fists down on them. “This is outrageous!”

“He did not say that,” Kanaya responded quietly after a moment. “If I remember correctly, it was something along the lines of, ‘wait, what the hell’, and then he went off on a rant before shoo-ing me out. Plus, I bet you would get along splendidly with him.”

Vriska grumbled. “I sure would want to meet that guy, to punch him in his smug face! No way I could be friends with him.”

“I am not so sure about the validity of that statement, Vriska.”

“I hear your first visit did not go as successfully as mine did?” called out Rose, walking over from several stools down. Kanaya swallowed, hand reaching up and rubbing the back of her neck.

Rose’s dark haired friend snorted from behind her. “Pfft, yeah right! Rose, please.”

“Alright, so maybe it wasn’t the best possible outcome, but it was still decent,” she responded. “By the way, this is my friend, Jade.”

“It is nice to meet you,” Kanaya stuck out her hand, which Jade shook enthusiastically. “This is Vriska.”

Vriska grinned. “So, you’re that pretty partner Kanaya made sure to tell me about?”

“No,” Kanaya said quickly, trying to cover up Vriska’s sour-peach voice with her own, a green-tea chamomile. “No, I never said anything of those sorts, what are you even talking about Vriska?” A chuckle was earned in response, with a pat on the back.

“I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone then,” she winked, grabbing an alarmed Jade by the wrist and dragging her away. She whispered in hushed tones as they walked out the door.

“What was that about?” Rose questioned, illiciting a shrug in response. “Do you mind if I take her seat, then?”

“I suppose it is fine,” Kanaya responded, pulling out the stool. “So, I understand your charge did not comply as easily as expected?”

 “You could put it that way. He wasn’t as noncompliant as he was...verbose,” Rose snorted.

Kanaya couldn’t help but snicker. Rose felt something inside of her shift, a fluttering of the heart. Huh, perhaps she needed to get that checked out by some sort of professional.

“Honestly, someone who is more wordy than you and I? That is someone who would truly be referred to as a chatter-box.” Kanaya thought about that for a second, eyes drifting up towards the ceiling, and Rose just waited, with a smile on her face. A reciept slipped by, and Rose signed off on Kanaya’s drink before she could look down. Upon doing so, she raised an eyebrow and sighed, an I’ll-get-you-next-time sort of sigh. 

“He was far more loquacious than I expected, you’d be surprised. He didn’t show as large of a vocabulary, but I wouldn’t underestimate it,” Rose warned.

“Huh. I would not have assumed that was the case; he had always seemed a bit off to me,” Kanaya shrugged.

“No, trust me, there’s definitely some psychoanalysis to be done on that boy, just not in the way of intellect,” Rose assured. Kanaya laughed, a larger more boisterous laugh this time, and the fluttering reappeared. Perhaps it wasn’t a medical condition, and in fact something much larger? Rose wasn’t quite sure which one she would enjoy more.

“In the case of Sir Egbert, I am sure that very fact is quite debateable,” Kanaya informed her.

Rose raised an amused eyebrow. “Why is that?”

“Let me explain...” Kanaya began, leaning in closer with a weary yet exuberant smile on her face.

With those words began a tradition. Post-meeting, about every other week, they would meet up at the bar. Despite its tiny quarters, unappealing layout, and only mediocre alcohol, both of them found it rather homey. It became a way to catch up on what was going on and create battle plans, but also a way to relax and get away from everything. It became a race to see who could grab the bill first, sometimes turning into playful mocking. For Rose, it was also the way to fall in love. It was surprisingly painful, but to be perfectly honest, she would rather have things disguising themselves as medical ailments than to be without Kanaya. Hearts are like locks without master keys, only admitting entry to one - and sometimes all it takes is a word, or a passing glance. It took a small amount more for Rose, a few conversations, but she realized it was in Kanaya’s possession, whether she knew it or not (admittedly, probably not). She wasn’t sure how she felt about it, but what she did know was that she’d rather have Kanaya hold it than anyone else in the world.

Months passed. Everyone found themselves in the dead of winter, wrapped up in blankets, layers of clothes, and their own lives. The duo had made great progress, doing the tedious work of getting the two princes to recognize their own feelings. After several secret trips across the river and entirely too many counseling sessions, the leaves fell, and so did the truth. King Egbert reacted well and encouraged Kanaya’s charge to go after who he cared about, but until a bond was made, the marriage would stay, but be stagnant.

King Strider, however, was not as easily persuaded. To ensure him that Dave was not, in fact, any of the cruel things he said, it took a bit of coercing from the council members (His Royal Sicknasty Sir Strider, to be specific. It was quite the dramatic scene). However, peace was eventually achieved, and the marriage between Rose’s charge and his bride-to-be was deferred. A trip to back to the bar between the two women was in order, just as always. 

Rose flicked her wrist, swirling her drink and leaving an opalescent cyclone up the sides of the glass. “Rose,” Kanaya offered after a minute of silence.

“Yes?”

“I have something I need to tell you.” A swallow was tacked onto the end. Rose could feel something catch in her throat – was this it? How do you respond a declaration, in a dark and minorly dismal dive bar no less? She’d always imagined that it would have been in a cozy library, or at a riverside park under the stars.

“It is almost embarrassing to tell you, but...I,” Kanaya began, rubbing the back of her neck. Her gaze shifted upward, until she was looking directly into Rose’s eyes. “I am a Rainbow Drinker.”

Rose stopped. Her steeped fingers fell, and she looked off into the distance, trying to place where that hidden camera was. “Are...you serious?” Kanaya nodded solemnly.

“If you no longer would like to associate with me, that is alright, I would understand. It is a scary thing for human-based creatures to understand,” she explained. “I would however like to point out that I would not be interested in drinking your blood unless you have given me explicit permission and you are one-hundred percent sure that it would be alright. It would not even be too much, as a member of the undead such as myself does not thrive off of eating three meals a day like you might-“

“Kanaya,” Rose interrupted. She reached out and grabbed one of her hands. Kanaya’s eyes widened. “It’s alright. It’s just...it seems like a bad fanfiction plot, that’s all.”

The widened eyes lowered to an annoyed half-mast. A huff of hair was released, and Kanaya wiggled her hand out from under Rose’s.

“I suppose one could call me the Bloody Mary,” she responded, a soft grin growing on her face. Rose’s eyebrows wrinkled.

“Was that supposed to be...?”

“Funny, yes,” Kanaya admitted. “It is funnier in Alternian.”

Rose laughed anyway.

After a few more minutes, the bill finally came out, and Rose saw that her own drink had been paid for. She glanced up at Kanaya, smiling sheepishly, and signed off on Kanaya’s lone cup. A glance caught between them seemed to stop the clock; Rose swore she could see her own heart beating under her shirt.

“Would you like to join me outside for a minute?” Rose offered.

“I would love to,” Kanaya smiled, offering out her arm. Rose tucked her arm alongside Kanaya’s surprisingly cold one, and the two walked off through the cold together. “It appears as if it might snow,” Kanaya added after a minute, “and may I ask where we are going?”

“You are correct, and no you may not,” Rose replied. Snowflakes began falling, dusting everything in a pale chill as the two made their way off the concrete to Rose’s favorite destination.

“May I ask now?” Kanaya objected. Rose looked up at her with a single eyebrow raised, words to be spoken later daring to flash across her face. 

“No. We’re almost there.”

Eventually, they reach it – the riverbed that Rose had grown up by. The rapids had frozen over for the most part, the grassy banks colored a sparkling gray and jade. Trees nearby sheltered it from the public eye, a leafy ceiling not able to hold back the waves of snowfall floating down around them.

“This is beautiful, Rose,” Kanaya smiled. The tip of her nose is green, reflective of the grass. Her breath puffed out around her like the edge of a waterfall.

“You’re the beautiful one here, Kanaya,” Rose added. Silence. Was it too early? It doesn’t matter, she decided. You know what it’s like to be in love, and this is it.

She turned to Kanaya, eyes wide and innocuous. “What do you-“

“Kanaya Maryam,” Rose announced. “We started this by chance. We were assigned to help two people kindle and embrace a love that was already there.”

“And Rose,” Kanaya  began, taking advantage of a pause from Rose to catch the words dashing around her brain like fireflies. “I do believe that this was not a mere coincidence. Note how there was no one from the section of Heart on our side? It was set up, by my dancestor, who believed there was something more between us than we could have recognized by our own devices. I also believe them. You are a gem, Miss Lalonde. And I-“

“Love you,” came a whisper in unison.

Kanaya gently set her hands on Rose’s shoulders, and Rose pulled her in by the waist. Their foggy breath echoed across each other’s faces, and lipsticks mingling, their lips met.

An announcement came the next day - the wedding of Prince Egbert and Prince Strider was in two weeks. Rose and her date may not be able to be seen, but she wouldn’t miss it for the world. 


End file.
